How to Use TidePilot

Harmonic tide predictions for 12 major Indian ports — everything you need to plan tide-sensitive marine operations.

What is TidePilot?

TidePilot is a harmonic tide prediction tool covering 12 major Indian ports across Gujarat, the West Coast, East Coast, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. It uses the standard 8-constituent harmonic method (M2, S2, N2, K2, K1, O1, P1, Q1) with published NHO India and Admiralty Tide Table constants.

All predictions run entirely in your browser — no server, no internet required after the page loads. Times are displayed in IST (UTC+5:30) throughout.

TidePilot is intended as a planning aid. For safety-critical navigation, always verify against the current official NHO India Annual Tide Tables.

The Seven Views

🌊Home — Live Tide

Today's full 24-hour tide curve for any of the 12 ports. Shows the live current water level, a countdown to the next High Water or Low Water, and the tidal phase. Use the date arrows to browse past or future days.

📈Daily

Detailed tide chart for a single chosen date. Pick any port and any date to get the precise HW/LW times and heights, the tidal phase badge, and an interactive curve you can hover for height at any hour.

🗓️Weekly

A 7-day planner showing all HW/LW events for each day of the week. Ideal for scheduling berthing windows, dredging operations, or crew transfers across a work week. Navigate week-by-week with the arrows.

📅Monthly

Full month table with every HW/LW event, plus three key statistics at the top — Peak High Water, Lowest Low Water, and Spring Tide days. Good for monthly planning, cargo scheduling, and vessel arrival windows.

📊Annual

Yearly overview with HAT and LAT (Highest and Lowest Astronomical Tides), a month-by-month summary, and a Shipbuilding & Dry-Dock Planning Guide that highlights the best months for launching, keel laying, and trials at each port.

⚖️Compare

Side-by-side comparison of two ports on the same day. Both tide curves overlay on one chart (teal vs indigo), and HW/LW events are listed in two columns. Use this to coordinate multi-port convoy movements or transfers.

🔔Reminders

Set personal reminders for tide-sensitive events — drydock entry, cargo loading, vessel departure, sea trials, and more. Upcoming reminders appear as a strip on the Home page. All data is stored locally in your browser.

Reading the Tide Chart

Teal area — tide curve
The filled area shows water height (metres above Chart Datum) across the 24-hour period. The curve rises to High Water and falls to Low Water roughly every 6 hours for semidiurnal ports.
Amber dot — High Water (HW)
Marked with the height in metres above the dot. This is when the tide is at its peak for that tidal cycle.
Blue dot — Low Water (LW)
Marked with the height below the dot. Most ports have LW near 0.5–1.0 m above Chart Datum. Kochi and Chennai have very small ranges.
Green dashed line — MSL
Mean Sea Level for the port. Useful reference for air draught and bridge clearance estimates.
Red vertical line — Now
Appears only when viewing today. Shows the current time so you can read off the present water level from the curve.

Tidal Phases Explained

Spring

New or full moon — maximum tidal range. Highest HW, lowest LW. Best for deep-draught vessel access.

Near Spring

1–2 days either side of spring. Range still large, approaching or leaving maximum.

Intermediate

Midway between spring and neap. Moderate range — average planning conditions.

Near Neap

1–2 days from neap. Range is shrinking or growing toward neap tides.

Neap

Quarter moon — minimum tidal range. Smallest HW/LW difference. Preferred for harbour maintenance, berthing of shallow-draught vessels.

Phase is calculated from lunar cycle position — 0 = New Moon (spring), 0.25 = First Quarter (neap), 0.5 = Full Moon (spring), 0.75 = Last Quarter (neap).

Port Coverage

PORTREGIONSPRING RANGENOTE
DahejGujarat7.6 mNHO secondary port, extreme range
BhavnagarGujarat8.2 mNHO reference port, highest range
HaziraGujarat5.6 mGulf of Khambhat south entry
KandlaGujarat4.2 mGulf of Kutch
MumbaiWest Coast4.3 mApollo Bunder reference station
MormugaoWest Coast2.3 mGoa
KochiWest Coast0.9 mMixed diurnal, small range
ChennaiEast Coast1.4 mSemidiurnal, small range
VizagEast Coast1.1 mVisakhapatnam
ParadipEast Coast2.3 mOdisha
KolkataEast Coast4.7 mHooghly River amplification
Port BlairIslands1.9 mAndaman & Nicobar

Glossary

HWHigh Water — the peak of a tidal cycle. Heights are in metres above Chart Datum.
LWLow Water — the trough of a tidal cycle.
MHWSMean High Water Springs — average height of spring HW events. Used for air draught calculations.
MLWSMean Low Water Springs — average height of spring LW events. Used for under-keel clearance.
Spring RangeMHWS − MLWS. The typical height difference from LW to HW during spring tides.
HATHighest Astronomical Tide — the highest level the tide can reach (annual view).
LATLowest Astronomical Tide — the lowest level reachable; defines Chart Datum at most ports.
MSLMean Sea Level — shown as a dashed green line on the tide chart.
Chart DatumThe reference zero level for tide heights, roughly LAT. Heights shown are metres above this datum.
ISTIndian Standard Time (UTC+5:30). All times in TidePilot are displayed in IST.

Planning Tips

For vessel arrival planning, use the Monthly view to find spring tide windows with the highest HW, then drill into Daily for exact times.

🏗️

For drydock or slipway operations, Annual shows the best months by port. Spring tides give maximum tidal drop for dry-docking.

🚢

Use Compare to check if two ports have HW at similar times — useful for coordinating multi-port convoy schedules.

📍

Gulf of Khambhat ports (Dahej, Bhavnagar) have India's largest tidal ranges (7–9 m spring). Always verify keel clearance before entry.

🔔

Set a Reminder for your drydock date or sea trial window so it shows up on the Home page countdown.

🕐

Toggle between 24h and 12h time format using the "24h / 12h" button in the top-right of the navbar.

🌗

Tide predictions are harmonic — they use published NHO and Admiralty constants. For safety-critical navigation, always cross-check with the official NHO India Annual Tide Tables.

Disclaimer — TidePilot predictions are based on harmonic constants from NHO India Tide Tables and Admiralty Tide Tables Vol. 4. Predictions may differ from observed tides due to meteorological surge, river discharge, and local bathymetric effects. Always cross-check with official NHO India Annual Tide Tables before any safety-critical operation.